IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/ifwkwp/1777.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The sensitivity of distributional measures to the reference period of income

Author

Listed:
  • Schröder, Carsten

Abstract

When individual or household incomes are collected for administrative or scientific surveys, the reference period of income is sometimes a month, sometimes a quarter, and sometimes a year. This reference period of income likely affects the shape of the distribution and derived measures of inequality, poverty, and mobility. Using employment histories of German residents, the present study systematically explores the sensitivity of distributional measures to the length of the reference period of income. Estimates from annual, quarterly and monthly distributions are provided for one and a half decades, starting from year 1991.

Suggested Citation

  • Schröder, Carsten, 2012. "The sensitivity of distributional measures to the reference period of income," Kiel Working Papers 1777, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1777
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/59535/1/718466608.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Chesher & Christian Schluter, 2002. "Welfare Measurement and Measurement Error," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 357-378.
    2. Hyun Son & Nanak Kakwani, 2006. "Measuring the impact of prices on inequality: With applications to Thailand and Korea," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(2), pages 181-207, August.
    3. Lena Mareike Detlefsen, 2012. "Earnings Inequality – Does the Accounting Period Matter?," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 132(2), pages 297-321.
    4. Hyun H. Son & Nanak Kakwani, 2006. "Measuring the impact of prices on inequality: with applications to Thailand and Korea," Working Papers 11, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    5. Timm Bönke & Giacomo Corneo & Holger Lüthen, 2015. "Lifetime Earnings Inequality in Germany," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 171-208.
    6. Ravallion, Martin, 1988. "Expected Poverty under Risk-Induced Welfare Variability," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(393), pages 1171-1182, December.
    7. Yoel Finkel & Yevgeny Artsev & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2006. "Inequality measurement and the time structure of household income in Israel," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(2), pages 153-179, August.
    8. René Böheim & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2000. "Do Current Income and Annual Income Measures Provide Different Pictures of Britain's Income Distribution?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 214, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Quentin Wodon & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2003. "Inequality and the accounting period," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(36), pages 1-8.
    10. Michał Myck, 2010. "Wages and Ageing: Is There Evidence for the ‘Inverse‐U’ Profile?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(3), pages 282-306, June.
    11. Shorrocks, Anthony, 1978. "Income inequality and income mobility," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 376-393, December.
    12. Carlo V. Fiorio, 2011. "Understanding Italian Inequality Trends," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(2), pages 255-275, April.
    13. Bernd Fitzenberger & Ralf A. Wilke, 2010. "New Insights into Unemployment Duration and Post Unemployment Earnings in Germany," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(6), pages 794-826, December.
    14. Morris, Nick & Preston, Ian, 1986. "Inequality, Poverty and the Redistribution of Income," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 275-344, November.
    15. Gibson, John & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott, 2001. "Why is income inequality so low in China compared to other countries?: The effect of household survey methods," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 329-333, June.
    16. Fields, Gary S & Ok, Efe A, 1999. "Measuring Movement of Incomes," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 66(264), pages 455-471, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carsten Schröder & Yolanda Golan & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2014. "Inequality and the time structure of earnings: evidence from Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(3), pages 393-409, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carsten Schröder & Yolanda Golan & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2014. "Inequality and the time structure of earnings: evidence from Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(3), pages 393-409, September.
    2. Charlotte Bartels, 2012. "Redistribution and Insurance in the German Welfare State," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 132(2), pages 265-295.
    3. René Böheim & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2000. "Do Current Income and Annual Income Measures Provide Different Pictures of Britain's Income Distribution?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 214, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Whitehouse, Edward, 2000. "How Poor are the Old? A Survey of Evidence from 44 Countries," MPRA Paper 14177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Felix Büchel & Joachim R. Frick & Asghar Zaidi, 2004. "Income Mobility in Old Age in Britain and Germany," CASE Papers 089, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    6. Magali Duque & Abigail McKnight, 2019. "Understanding the relationship between inequalities and poverty: a review of dynamic mechanisms," CASE Papers /217, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    7. Chiara Gigliarano & Francesco Chelli, 2016. "Measuring inter-temporal intragenerational mobility: an application to the Italian labour market," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 89-102, January.
    8. Yoel Finkel & Yevgeny Artsev & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2006. "Inequality measurement and the time structure of household income in Israel," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(2), pages 153-179, August.
    9. Garnero, Andrea & Hijzen, Alexander & Martin, Sébastien, 2019. "More unequal, but more mobile? Earnings inequality and mobility in OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 26-35.
    10. Luis Ayala & Mercedes Sastre, 2004. "Europe vs. the United States: is there a trade-off between mobility and inequality?," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 13(1-2), pages 4-4, March-Jun.
    11. Thomas Demuynck & Dirk Van de gaer, 2012. "Inequality Adjusted Income Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(316), pages 747-765, October.
    12. Markus Jäntti & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2013. "Income Mobility," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 607, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    13. Zaman, Khalid & Khan, Muhammad Mushtaq & Ahmad, Mehboob, 2012. "The relationship between foreign direct investment and pro-poor growth policies in Pakistan: The new interface," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1220-1227.
    14. Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2004. "The measurement of structural and exchange income mobility," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 2(3), pages 219-228, September.
    15. Allanson, Paul & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Petrie, Dennis, 2010. "Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 78-86, January.
    16. VAN KERM Philippe, 2003. "What Lies Behind Income Mobility? Reranking and Distributional Change in Belgium, Western Germany and the USA," IRISS Working Paper Series 2003-03, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    17. Riphahn, Regina T. & Schnitzlein, Daniel D., 2016. "Wage mobility in East and West Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 11-34.
    18. Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 2001. "Cross-country comparisons of pensioners’ incomes," MPRA Paper 16345, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Aristei, David & Perugini, Cristiano, 2015. "The drivers of income mobility in Europe," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 197-224.
    20. C. Schluter & D. Van De Gaer, 2008. "Structural Mobility, Exchange Mobility and Subgroup Consistent Mobility Measurement – US–German Mobility Measurements Revisited," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 08/543, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; poverty; mobility; reference period of income; monthly; quarterly; and annual distributions; earnings; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1777. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwkiede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.